Monday, August 29, 2016

Poke Kitchen in the works for 14th Street



Workers have been renovating the storefront at 250 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

We've been curious about what's next for the space. The CB3-SLA committee docket for September provides the answer: An applicant called Poke Kitchen Inc. is seeking a beer-wine license for the address. (This item will not be heard during the meeting on Sept. 12.)

The applicant's questionnaire isn't online just yet, so we're not sure who's behind the operation. There happens to be a Poke Kitchen that opened in May on East 39th Street (from the same people who own Sushi Zo).

Here's the East 39th Street Poke Kitchen pitch via their website:

Our sushi chef begins every morning with market-fresh, sashimi-quality fish and organic vegetables. With a diverse selection of fish and vegetables to choose from, your poké bowl is readily personalizable. Our fast-casual shop, located in midtown Manhattan, makes the lunch and dinner seafood experience a delicious and healthy one. We look forward to serving your discriminating palate.

Perhaps this is just the second of many more spots to jump on the poke bandwagon and come to the neighborhood. (PokéSpot opened on Fourth Avenue and 12th Street on Aug. 12.)

Poke Kitchen will be the latest food specialty shop to open of late along this block ... joining Pink Bear Ice Cream and (earlier) Vivi Bubble Tea...



... and Patea Bubble Tea and Mr. Moustache...



As for 250 E. 14th St., it was previously home to Saving$ Paradise, which merged with I.Q. Decor back in the spring.

14 comments:

NOTORIOUS said...

But is it bespoke poke?

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't that be Pokémon Kitchen?

But seriously, it's good to see this area reviving.

Anonymous said...

The Poke Experience.

Anonymous said...

Peak Poke is coming fast.

Gojira said...

Why are they all clustered in this little area? Is there some magnetic poke pole there that they are all flocking to? Seems sort of absurd to me.

And re the area "reviving", there was never anything wrong with that stretch of 14th Street; the storefronts were always filled with little local shops, even if they didn't have shrieking pink backgrounds and infantile fonts on their signs. I guess "reviving", in this instance, really means "opening places with pap - ice cream, bubble tea - designed to appeal to millennial taste buds", thereby dismissing all the other things that went before, since they weren't glitzy, upscale, imported, hip or chic, meaning the area was a total slum.

NOTORIOUS said...

@Gojira Hence the problem with trends. Like Al Bundy's Weenie Tots, they have a very short shelf life.

Anonymous said...

Gojira, this was always the most problematic stretch of 14th Street. At one time the Guardian Angels were patrolling it.

Anonymous said...

I'm pushing two decades in this nabe and that stretch of 14th is practically non-existent in my world.

Gojira said...

I have been wandering 14th Street from Avenue B west to the Hudson since the late 1970s, and never once did I see a Guardian Angel on patrol there, nor did I find that stretch of the street between 2-3 particularly problematic, given that the whole neighborhood was sketchy. What, precisely, made that block so dangerous, in your opinion, Anon. 1:51? I don't ask to be snide, I am just really curious, because nothing dangerous stands out in my memory.

Anonymous said...

Who doesn't love a good poke?!

blue glass said...

Gojira
the stretch of 14th street 2-3 was always a problem because it was covered by two precincts (13th and 9th) and two community boards (6th and 3rd) where the dealers would cross the street and wave at the cops. connecting everyone was 209 east 14th street, furnished rooms that housed a medicaid mill in the basement that attracted addicts and dealers roaming from beth israel MMTP programs on 25th and first, medical m MMTP on third avenue around 17th and mary scranton MMTP 13th street and second avenue. it was a true shit show.

that is how "sweet 14" atarted - a two board/two precinct task force, but that's another story of the waste of city $$. if you look up on the north side of 14th street you might still see a small sign with a picture of the store that used to reside there. most of the signs are gone, as are the stores.

for a short time the Guardian Angels did patrol the area (15th to 13th streets) and much later there was a "community patrol" of sorts.

that does not mean there weren't wonderful places there. the smoke shop/candy store (that did not sell drugs) that was a ray of light all night, run by one of the most fantastic old men. the juice joint that served fresh orange and/r grapegruit juice and sometimes had fresh coconut. small clothing stores, a great drug store with a soda counter, a wig store with wonderful colors brightening the street, a bakery with highly decorated cakes. even a store that sold gowns that they named after famous movie stars.




Anonymous said...

Thank you Blue Glass. You saved me a lot of effort. Gojira, if you wandered that stretch of 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd and was not accosted jostled or harassed, maybe you were just invisible?

Gojira said...

Wasn't invisible, nope, but I was tall and attitudinal, so no one ever messed with me, not even when I would walk home alone from CBGBs, the Bowery to 11th and B, at 4 AM after the club closed. But I also remember the great Russian antique and tchotchke stores on both the north and south sides of the street, the nice coffee shop on the northwest corner of 14th and 2nd, with the sign that looked like a red-painted wood shingle roof, the wig store, and lot of other little places that weren't dens of iniquity, they were just local businesses that I was happy to patronize. I recall 11th and 2nd, where the hookers plied their trade, as being much worse; to me, in comparison, 14th Street was nothing special. All just a matter of perspective, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Yes I miss the Russian Store myself. Unfortunately (I guess) things are better and safer there now.